Merry Christmas, Everybody!!!!!!!
I hope you have a wonderful Christmas with lots of fun, love, and laughter... Enjoy this time of the year and remember, as they say, the 'Reason for the Season.'!
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 25, 2010
Dec 23, 2010
Back on the Farm
Good morning everyone, I hope this finds you well... As for me, ...well, I'm not sick, but... Let me say this: Whoever invented singing your heart out in the freezing cold at night aught to be severely punished! My sisters and I all woke up this morning with sore throats.... Now don't get me wrong, it was loads of fun - lots of laughs, getting to see friends, Christmas lights, and then snacks when we got back to church. I loved every minute of it! I had a chance to talk to both of our pastors last night, as well as lots of other church friends. It was a great time. It's funny, but I sound sort of like Elmer Fudd this morning because of my scratchy throat. :)
Well, it's good to be home, and today I get to go down to the farm where my bull Columbus is, and also to work with my new cow Penny. I also get to visit grandparents for the day. My only concern: it's not even 40 degrees out side right now, and my coveralls seem to be missing. :( I suppose I'll manage somehow.
I just remembered that I wanted to tell some about my trip home. It seems that not many people want to leave Japan for Christmas, so there was plenty of room on the long flight. I had a window seat, and the guy sitting beside me moved somewhere else, so we'd both have more room. I was able to sit with my back against the window side, pull my legs up on the seat beside me, and sleep for about 2 hours right before we got to Dallas. There really weren't any good movies to watch besides Despicable Me, so I used my iPod most of the time for listening to music. When I got to Dallas I never found a piece of my luggage, so I had to go on without it. It's a good thing I didn't wait for it anymore. After going through customs again I took the SkyLink to my terminal, walked to my gait, and walked directly onto my plane! Then when we landed in Jackson we didn't come up to a walkway. Instead, we landed in the middle of an open space, and they had stairs up to the door. I felt like I should have stepped down and waved like the president. I probably would have if there hadn't been a whole line of people behind me. :) Well, my piece of luggage didn't show up on the Jackosn carousel either, so I made a claim on it. They had it delivered to our house, so now everything is 'hunky-dory'.
Lessons from a future housewife:
#7 When processing laundry, washing cotton is fine. If you intend to wear the garment again, I would suggest not drying it in the dryer. Drying cotton shrinks it.
This lesson has been learned over and over...and over... :) Just don't do it!!!
All my love,
Hannah
P.S. I just decided to add a random picture of me being a wax statue in a phone booth. :) I kind of like it. What do you think?
Well, it's good to be home, and today I get to go down to the farm where my bull Columbus is, and also to work with my new cow Penny. I also get to visit grandparents for the day. My only concern: it's not even 40 degrees out side right now, and my coveralls seem to be missing. :( I suppose I'll manage somehow.
I just remembered that I wanted to tell some about my trip home. It seems that not many people want to leave Japan for Christmas, so there was plenty of room on the long flight. I had a window seat, and the guy sitting beside me moved somewhere else, so we'd both have more room. I was able to sit with my back against the window side, pull my legs up on the seat beside me, and sleep for about 2 hours right before we got to Dallas. There really weren't any good movies to watch besides Despicable Me, so I used my iPod most of the time for listening to music. When I got to Dallas I never found a piece of my luggage, so I had to go on without it. It's a good thing I didn't wait for it anymore. After going through customs again I took the SkyLink to my terminal, walked to my gait, and walked directly onto my plane! Then when we landed in Jackson we didn't come up to a walkway. Instead, we landed in the middle of an open space, and they had stairs up to the door. I felt like I should have stepped down and waved like the president. I probably would have if there hadn't been a whole line of people behind me. :) Well, my piece of luggage didn't show up on the Jackosn carousel either, so I made a claim on it. They had it delivered to our house, so now everything is 'hunky-dory'.
Lessons from a future housewife:
#7 When processing laundry, washing cotton is fine. If you intend to wear the garment again, I would suggest not drying it in the dryer. Drying cotton shrinks it.
This lesson has been learned over and over...and over... :) Just don't do it!!!
All my love,
Hannah
P.S. I just decided to add a random picture of me being a wax statue in a phone booth. :) I kind of like it. What do you think?
Home Again
Hello everyone, I just wanted to let you know that I made it home safely. Thank you all for your prayers. I have had a wonderful nearly 3 days at home with my family! I fully intend to write about the two days I didn't have time to write about before I left Japan, and about the flight home, but not now... I am still in the middle of unpacking all of my things, and currently have a bit of a mess in my room, but now I have to go and get ready to go Christmas caroling with our church. :) I have wanted to go caroling since about November 20th, and now I finally get to. :)
All my love,
Hannah
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 17, 2010
Three More Days!
The past few days have been pretty amazing for me! As I near the end of my time here, a lot of thoughts have been running through my head... What's it going to be like being back home in my own family? How am I going to survive having to pump my own gasoline!?! (There are no self-service pumps here...) What am I going to do without the trains? My friends? What am I going to do, period? How will it feel living on the ground again? ...No heated floors??? Where will I buy raw fish? How much will Asian rice cost in America? Despite all of these questions, one thought runs along parallel with all of them - Boy, it will be good to be home! I'll get to sleep in my bed on my pillows, I'll get to wear my house-robe, I'll get to sit beside the fire! I get to wear my coveralls (YAY!) and clomp around in my rubber boots! I get to hug my bull, and work with my new heifer in the freezing cold! I get to wear my scarf and pink wool socks! I'll get to have dinner again with my family!!! Today during my coffee break I was chatting with my mother. She asked if I want to go caroling with our church this coming Wednesday night. That in itself may not seem like such a big deal to you, but to be planning to do things with my family next week after not seeing them for months seems so weird to me...
Anyway, that's not what I had initially intended to write about... I have a whole list of things I want to write about, so I suppose I should start writing about that, instead... Let's see.... The first thing on my list is my theory about why I slept so long on Tuesday... I decided that it was because I've become so accustomed to morning piano lessons that my mind doesn't even recognize that as 'noise' anymore... On Wednesday the food mixer woke me up. I'm not used to mixers being used at 6:00, so my mind did register that as noise, and I woke up! Funny how your brain works, isn't it?
Wow. Several hours have elapsed since writing the above... There have been a few ...updates... to my mood that I want to record while they're still fresh on my mind. I told my brother today that over the past week I have thought about 3 times as much as I usually do, and said about 3/4 of all that I usually say. Well, all those thoughts and withheld words finally boiled down and overflowed tonight when Eastin gave me a good night hug. After that squeeze, he looked at me and said "'cause you're not going to be here any more." After I stood up, he told me his tummy hurt, and asked me to pray that God would make it better. You see, Roger and Abi were out tonight, and I kept the boys... As is my usual custom when I keep them, I tuck them each into bed, say goodnight to each of them, and turn off the light. Sometimes I read to them, and often I pray with them before leaving the room... I had forgotten our prayer tonight because I must admit I was a little frustrated with my headache, and Coen's random screaming, and the boys' argument over toothpaste flavors! After tucking in Baby I turned to Eastin and asked for a goodnight hug. After the hug he looked up at me from his bed and asked for that little prayer. As I sat beside him on the edge of his bed all of that frustration, and even my headache suddenly disappeared, and I admit I started crying during my prayer. Why is it so hard to do God's will? Last month I thought I would be so happy to be going home! And I am, deep down inside...so why aren't I as happy as I thought I would be?
Today I had my last English lesson with the boys... On Thursday I had my last English lesson with Hinako... On Tuesday I baked my last loaves of bread in the little convection oven... That day I also had my last calligraphy lesson. On Wednesday I walked down all 28 stories worth of stairs for one last time. Tomorrow I'm going for my last train ride to Chiba. I'll meet my friends there, and come back to Tokyo with them one last time... ...I'm SO happy to be going home, believe me! So why am I still crying?
...New update. I watched an episode of Dr. Who, and ate some green tea ice-cream to go with my coke... I'm feeling better... :) After that emotional escapade, I think I'll just stick to my list from now on... :)
...Next item - today's accomplishments... Today after a late start, I had a good day. Among my accomplishments are making chocolate chip cookies and turning them into ice-cream sandwiches, washing and folding several loads of laundry, washing mirrors and doors, taking some adorable pictures of Coen. Today while Abi was at Eastin's school (which I'll tell about in a moment) I walked out of the room for a moment, and came back to find Coen trying to walk around in his Daddy's slippers. :) He was so cute! The slippers were half as long as he is tall, and looked so funny! It reminded me of a picture of myself when I was about Coen's age. My Poppa always has a pair of work-boots somewheres around. When I was a little over a year old, I loved trying to stand in his work-boots... We have a picture of me with him holding me up so that I wouldn't fall over, and I was standing with my feet in his work-boots! Seeing Coen wearing the slippers was like seeing a live flashback. :) Like I said, I took some really cute pictures, but I'll have to upload them later...
Abi went to Eastin's school today to watch the Sumo wrestlers pound rice to make mochi for the kindergarten students. She said it was amazing to watch, and learn more about Sumo wrestling. She said I missed the opportunity of a life time, by not going... :) ...But when she told me they were in the traditional Sumo *cough* outfits *cough*, I was glad I stayed home to make cookies!
Let's see... Other than that, I don't think I did much else the rest of the day, except making a quick dinner of BBQ chicken legs, rice, and green salad.. basic, but tasty. :)
Before I go, I want to quickly outline tomorrow, since I won't have time to do it tomorrow... My plan is to get up semi early in the morning and be on the train by 8:30, so that I can be in Soga by 9:30. I'm going to meet Melanie and Jenna there, and we're going to go to Chiba for ramen. Then we're heading back to Tokyo to do all of our 'traditions' before I leave... We're going to get Dr. Peppers, melon pan(bread), go walk around in our favorite stores at LaLaport, etc. and be back here by around 5:00-ish. Then some of my friends are coming over for a goodbye party. That lasts from 6:30-9:00-ish. Then we girls are going to... do something... before we go to bed. Perhaps if it's not too late, we can go for a walk along the river to our "special seats" where we first shared melon pan together. :) On Sunday morning we're going to hang out until 2:15, when we're planning to meet Hinako's family downstairs and all go to church together. After church the Japanese Gospel choir is having their Christmas concert. That'll be done around 7:00, and then Hinako's family is coming here for last goodbyes. The girls are staying over on Sunday night as well, and I think they're coming to the airport with me on Monday! That'll be lots of fun. Then, on Monday afternoon, I'll be flying out of Japan. I'll arrive home 2 hours before I left Japan. :) (If only!)
Well, if I don't have time to write before I leave -
My love to you all,
Hannah
Lessons from a future housewife:
#5 When cleaning baseboards, a damp cloth is better than a paper towel... While paper towels are disposable, and have easier cleanup, they just don't do as good a job at getting the dust off the boards. The rag works better, and it's easy to just rinse out and keep going!
#6 When making whipped cream from fresh whipping cream, never use an electric beater. The electric beaters whip the cream too fast, and it turns from cream directly into butter, skipping the whipped stage. Whipping by hand is a much better option, although it does take more time and energy.
Anyway, that's not what I had initially intended to write about... I have a whole list of things I want to write about, so I suppose I should start writing about that, instead... Let's see.... The first thing on my list is my theory about why I slept so long on Tuesday... I decided that it was because I've become so accustomed to morning piano lessons that my mind doesn't even recognize that as 'noise' anymore... On Wednesday the food mixer woke me up. I'm not used to mixers being used at 6:00, so my mind did register that as noise, and I woke up! Funny how your brain works, isn't it?
Wow. Several hours have elapsed since writing the above... There have been a few ...updates... to my mood that I want to record while they're still fresh on my mind. I told my brother today that over the past week I have thought about 3 times as much as I usually do, and said about 3/4 of all that I usually say. Well, all those thoughts and withheld words finally boiled down and overflowed tonight when Eastin gave me a good night hug. After that squeeze, he looked at me and said "'cause you're not going to be here any more." After I stood up, he told me his tummy hurt, and asked me to pray that God would make it better. You see, Roger and Abi were out tonight, and I kept the boys... As is my usual custom when I keep them, I tuck them each into bed, say goodnight to each of them, and turn off the light. Sometimes I read to them, and often I pray with them before leaving the room... I had forgotten our prayer tonight because I must admit I was a little frustrated with my headache, and Coen's random screaming, and the boys' argument over toothpaste flavors! After tucking in Baby I turned to Eastin and asked for a goodnight hug. After the hug he looked up at me from his bed and asked for that little prayer. As I sat beside him on the edge of his bed all of that frustration, and even my headache suddenly disappeared, and I admit I started crying during my prayer. Why is it so hard to do God's will? Last month I thought I would be so happy to be going home! And I am, deep down inside...so why aren't I as happy as I thought I would be?
Today I had my last English lesson with the boys... On Thursday I had my last English lesson with Hinako... On Tuesday I baked my last loaves of bread in the little convection oven... That day I also had my last calligraphy lesson. On Wednesday I walked down all 28 stories worth of stairs for one last time. Tomorrow I'm going for my last train ride to Chiba. I'll meet my friends there, and come back to Tokyo with them one last time... ...I'm SO happy to be going home, believe me! So why am I still crying?
...New update. I watched an episode of Dr. Who, and ate some green tea ice-cream to go with my coke... I'm feeling better... :) After that emotional escapade, I think I'll just stick to my list from now on... :)
...Next item - today's accomplishments... Today after a late start, I had a good day. Among my accomplishments are making chocolate chip cookies and turning them into ice-cream sandwiches, washing and folding several loads of laundry, washing mirrors and doors, taking some adorable pictures of Coen. Today while Abi was at Eastin's school (which I'll tell about in a moment) I walked out of the room for a moment, and came back to find Coen trying to walk around in his Daddy's slippers. :) He was so cute! The slippers were half as long as he is tall, and looked so funny! It reminded me of a picture of myself when I was about Coen's age. My Poppa always has a pair of work-boots somewheres around. When I was a little over a year old, I loved trying to stand in his work-boots... We have a picture of me with him holding me up so that I wouldn't fall over, and I was standing with my feet in his work-boots! Seeing Coen wearing the slippers was like seeing a live flashback. :) Like I said, I took some really cute pictures, but I'll have to upload them later...
Abi went to Eastin's school today to watch the Sumo wrestlers pound rice to make mochi for the kindergarten students. She said it was amazing to watch, and learn more about Sumo wrestling. She said I missed the opportunity of a life time, by not going... :) ...But when she told me they were in the traditional Sumo *cough* outfits *cough*, I was glad I stayed home to make cookies!
Let's see... Other than that, I don't think I did much else the rest of the day, except making a quick dinner of BBQ chicken legs, rice, and green salad.. basic, but tasty. :)
Before I go, I want to quickly outline tomorrow, since I won't have time to do it tomorrow... My plan is to get up semi early in the morning and be on the train by 8:30, so that I can be in Soga by 9:30. I'm going to meet Melanie and Jenna there, and we're going to go to Chiba for ramen. Then we're heading back to Tokyo to do all of our 'traditions' before I leave... We're going to get Dr. Peppers, melon pan(bread), go walk around in our favorite stores at LaLaport, etc. and be back here by around 5:00-ish. Then some of my friends are coming over for a goodbye party. That lasts from 6:30-9:00-ish. Then we girls are going to... do something... before we go to bed. Perhaps if it's not too late, we can go for a walk along the river to our "special seats" where we first shared melon pan together. :) On Sunday morning we're going to hang out until 2:15, when we're planning to meet Hinako's family downstairs and all go to church together. After church the Japanese Gospel choir is having their Christmas concert. That'll be done around 7:00, and then Hinako's family is coming here for last goodbyes. The girls are staying over on Sunday night as well, and I think they're coming to the airport with me on Monday! That'll be lots of fun. Then, on Monday afternoon, I'll be flying out of Japan. I'll arrive home 2 hours before I left Japan. :) (If only!)
Well, if I don't have time to write before I leave -
My love to you all,
Hannah
Lessons from a future housewife:
#5 When cleaning baseboards, a damp cloth is better than a paper towel... While paper towels are disposable, and have easier cleanup, they just don't do as good a job at getting the dust off the boards. The rag works better, and it's easy to just rinse out and keep going!
#6 When making whipped cream from fresh whipping cream, never use an electric beater. The electric beaters whip the cream too fast, and it turns from cream directly into butter, skipping the whipped stage. Whipping by hand is a much better option, although it does take more time and energy.
Dec 14, 2010
White Daisies!
Usually I have a witty, nifty, or humorous story behind each title for my blog posts... This post's title has nothing to do with any story I was planning to tell. But I feel that it does require a bit of explanation... White daisies are my favorite flower. I was thinking back over my day while I was mixing a cake batter after dinner... My only conclusion to these thoughts were that I have had a marvelous day! Somehow that reminded me of white daisies. Since I was so happy, and white daisies always seem to be so cheerful, I decided I would spread the good cheer!
Like I mentioned, my day today has been wonderful. I did sleep a little a lot longer than I had intended to. I remember rolling over this morning and looking at my watch when it said 2:00. Then the next thing I know it's 8:30 in the morning! I even slept through piano lessons! I suppose that either I was very tired last night, or my mind has just learned to shut out the sounds that used to wake me so easily... Perhaps it was a combination of both... But I plan to set my alarm clock tonight so that it doesn't happen again.
(Just as a random note, I added one of the pictures we had taken while we were at Disneyland... You can also see part of my adorable new sweatshirt. From left to right there's me, Jenna, Melanie, Yukiho, and Satoshi... That was all in our little party. The other picture is one I forgot even existed... It was taken in Nikko while visiting Yukiho and Satoshi's grandparents... You can see all of us sitting around the table during dinner.)
After getting up late the whole day seemed so much shorter. After I had a banana and a little coffee for breakfast, I set about my work. I washed dishes, folded clothes, washed mirrors and glass shelves, started loads of clothes, etc. Then I had some time to chat with my mother and grandmother. That was loads of fun! Then I tried a new bread recipe that was just delicious! I am surprised at it's success! It tasted wonderful. It didn't have a baking powder aftertaste to it, and it wasn't yeast-y... Almost the perfect gluten free sandwich bread. Then I packed all of my clothes except the 6 outfits I'll need before I go home. My closet looks so bare. After doing that I do have hope, though, that I'll be able to pack everything into my large suitcase. Whether or not it'll be under 50 pounds is doubtful, but at least I'll have everything and not have to ship it! By the time I finished packing, the bread was done and Eastin was home from school. Since Abi was back from picking him up, I ran to the grocery store for her to pick up a few things... (Actually I walked, but that's immaterial.) When I got back I had something I've been craving for a long time... I had a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich made with Japanese mayonnaise!!! It was wonderful! Then Roger and I took Eastin and Baby with us to the bank to close my Japanese bank account. That was an easy job, and then I brought the boys back here while Roger went to the library to study.
After I got back I did a little reading with Aidan, and then it was time for the boys to go to their karate lesson and me to my calligraphy lesson. My teacher also taught me the Japanese green tea ceremony today. It was fun to learn. After that I learned two new kanji. I learned the word or Kanji for 'dream' and 'I love'. I wasn't able to write either of them very well, because my ink was clumpy today and my brush kept sticking to the paper for some reason... But she presented me with one copy of each that she had written. I have thoroughly enjoyed my lessons. The few kanji I know how to write are fun because I learned them and their meanings while also learning calligraphy. Not many American girls my age can say they were taught calligraphy by a Japanese woman in Japan!!! :)
Well, my cakes are done now so I'll end this post and go take them out of the oven...
Lessons from a future housewife:
#4 - When baking new recipes, especially breads and lasagnas, it is wise to put the pan onto a baking sheet. This prevents any overflowing pan contents getting stuck in the bottom of your oven and possibly catching fire, or even just making a lot of work for your future... (Because it's a lot of work to clean out an oven!) I've found that every recipe has different rising habits, and different dishes produce more liquid than others. Putting a baking sheet underneath the pan(s) is just an extra precaution and work saver.
All my love,
Hannah
Like I mentioned, my day today has been wonderful. I did sleep a little a lot longer than I had intended to. I remember rolling over this morning and looking at my watch when it said 2:00. Then the next thing I know it's 8:30 in the morning! I even slept through piano lessons! I suppose that either I was very tired last night, or my mind has just learned to shut out the sounds that used to wake me so easily... Perhaps it was a combination of both... But I plan to set my alarm clock tonight so that it doesn't happen again. (Just as a random note, I added one of the pictures we had taken while we were at Disneyland... You can also see part of my adorable new sweatshirt. From left to right there's me, Jenna, Melanie, Yukiho, and Satoshi... That was all in our little party. The other picture is one I forgot even existed... It was taken in Nikko while visiting Yukiho and Satoshi's grandparents... You can see all of us sitting around the table during dinner.)
After getting up late the whole day seemed so much shorter. After I had a banana and a little coffee for breakfast, I set about my work. I washed dishes, folded clothes, washed mirrors and glass shelves, started loads of clothes, etc. Then I had some time to chat with my mother and grandmother. That was loads of fun! Then I tried a new bread recipe that was just delicious! I am surprised at it's success! It tasted wonderful. It didn't have a baking powder aftertaste to it, and it wasn't yeast-y... Almost the perfect gluten free sandwich bread. Then I packed all of my clothes except the 6 outfits I'll need before I go home. My closet looks so bare. After doing that I do have hope, though, that I'll be able to pack everything into my large suitcase. Whether or not it'll be under 50 pounds is doubtful, but at least I'll have everything and not have to ship it! By the time I finished packing, the bread was done and Eastin was home from school. Since Abi was back from picking him up, I ran to the grocery store for her to pick up a few things... (Actually I walked, but that's immaterial.) When I got back I had something I've been craving for a long time... I had a tomato and mayonnaise sandwich made with Japanese mayonnaise!!! It was wonderful! Then Roger and I took Eastin and Baby with us to the bank to close my Japanese bank account. That was an easy job, and then I brought the boys back here while Roger went to the library to study.
After I got back I did a little reading with Aidan, and then it was time for the boys to go to their karate lesson and me to my calligraphy lesson. My teacher also taught me the Japanese green tea ceremony today. It was fun to learn. After that I learned two new kanji. I learned the word or Kanji for 'dream' and 'I love'. I wasn't able to write either of them very well, because my ink was clumpy today and my brush kept sticking to the paper for some reason... But she presented me with one copy of each that she had written. I have thoroughly enjoyed my lessons. The few kanji I know how to write are fun because I learned them and their meanings while also learning calligraphy. Not many American girls my age can say they were taught calligraphy by a Japanese woman in Japan!!! :)
Well, my cakes are done now so I'll end this post and go take them out of the oven...
Lessons from a future housewife:
#4 - When baking new recipes, especially breads and lasagnas, it is wise to put the pan onto a baking sheet. This prevents any overflowing pan contents getting stuck in the bottom of your oven and possibly catching fire, or even just making a lot of work for your future... (Because it's a lot of work to clean out an oven!) I've found that every recipe has different rising habits, and different dishes produce more liquid than others. Putting a baking sheet underneath the pan(s) is just an extra precaution and work saver.
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 13, 2010
Disneyland!
Hello everyone! I woke up this morning and my first thought was (besides commenting to myself about the gloominess of the day outside) "[GASP] I only have 7 days left!!!" This is true: I am leaving Japan in only seven days. I'm really sad. Last night after church Melanie, Jenna and I went to Starbucks instead of coming back to Tsukishima... It struck me after church was over, and before we left, that this was our last normal Sunday together. Next Sunday is all booked, from just after dawn 'till long past dusk. I'm really going to miss our three-some-ness! I'm going to miss the Lowther family. I'm going to miss the Japanese, and Korean friends I've made here! I'm really going to miss the trains, my ...braveness... to go places by myself without doubting whether I'll be mugged or worse. I'll miss the freedom I have here to hop onto a train and visit friends up to an hour away! ...Being able to walk to the grocery store! (My home is at least 15 minutes away from the closest convenience store, and 25 minutes from the nearest WalMart.)
Anyway, that's not what I wanted to write about... I wanted to write about my trip to Disney Land on Saturday... It turned out that Micah and Seth couldn't come, so it was just Melanie, Jenna, Satoshi, Yukiho, and me. We had a great time! We all met at the station gates at 9:00 in the morning. It ended up that I was the only one without a ticket, but everyone else was kind enough to stand in line with me while I bought mine... Actually Roger and Abi paid for my ticket as a gift! I was really surprised. After we got into the park, we stopped to look at the map. First we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. That was really fun! I think I saw the Captain Jack that I had my picture taken with... :) Then we made our way around the edge of the park until we came to the Western Railway ride. We took a ride along the "Mississipi River Western Railroad". We saw Indians, caribou (which was really funny, because I'm from Mississippi and I know we don't have any caribou down there!), and the Mark Twain ferry boat. Then we stood in line for a record two and a half hours to ride a roller coaster. It was worth it, I believe. That was the longest roller coaster ride I've ever been on, and we got to find out a lot about each other while we were waiting in line... We kept asking questions, and made our own 'get to know your friends' game. :) That was lots of fun! After that we climbed the Swiss Family Robinson's tree house, since that was one of the main things Jenna and I remember from when we went to Disney as small, little, tiny children. :) After that and watching the very end of the Christmas parade where Santa Clause spoke with a funny accent, we walked over to the Queen of Heart's royal banquet hall for lunch. I had a hamburger patty shaped like a heart, a few vegetables, and half a coke. It was so cute! The waiters and waitresses all wore aprons with hearts in the middle. We have some cute pictures from there, but I haven't uploaded them yet. Directly following lunch, we made our way to the teacups! (Don't ask me why that was the one we decided to ride just after eating!) The tree house, the teacups and the Dumbo ride are the only ones Jenna and I remember from our previous Disney trip, so we had to re-do all three of those. All five of us couldn't ride in one teacup, so Jenna and I got dizzy together, and Melanie, Yukiho and Satoshi got dizzy in another cup. To tell the truth, I couldn't tell when the ride actually stopped either time we rode! I say either time, because we did ride it twice! We rode it once after lunch and then, quite by accident, that's the one we decided to re-ride right after dinner! After the first time around, (pardon the un-intended pun) we rode Dumbo!!! I loved it! It brought back so many memories. I think I must've ridden that ride four times when I went to Disneyland when I was three years old. After that I don't remember what we did.... I know we had dinner at some point, so I'll skip ahead to there... We all ordered pizza for supper. It was pretty good pizza, but by the time we had decided where to eat, and gotten our food, there were no empty tables inside... So we tried eating outside at those tables. The wind just happened to be horrible at that time, and it was...7:30....which means it was dark and cold, on top of being windy. As we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed one of those penny mashing machines... The kind where you put in your penny and your quarter, and then press a design onto the penny... As I was trying to find a 100 yen piece to insert, I realized that they don't use pennies here. :) So, instead of a dark penny where you can see Abraham Lincoln's head squished sideways on the back, I got a shiny new piece of copper cut to the right size with Eve from WALL-E on it! I can add it to my squashed penny collection at home! Last time I went to Disney, I believe I had one with... Minnie Mouse on it. After dinner we walked over to the Winnie the Pooh ride. It was a giant book that you walk into and through!!! It was amazing! It had giant 50 foot pages, like from the book. Then when you got to the ride itself, it was a huge honey pot that just happened to sit exactly five people! I loved it!!! Then it took you through the story of Winnie the Pooh's Honey Hunt. We even got to hear the Tigger song sung in Japanese! "The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs. They're bouncy, bouncy, trouncy, troucny, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one! I-I-I-I'm the only one! T. I. double G. ER - TIGGER!" That in itself was funny. Then we went to the Pooh Bear gift shop. I bought the most adorable hooded sweatshirt there. It has Pooh's face on the front, and lots of embroidered flowers and a honey bee on Pooh's nose! It's soooooo cute. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it later..
We finally left the park at 10:00 when they pushed everyone out and said they were closing... :) The trains were absolutely packed!!! The Fukudas had to go home, because it was really late... But Jenna, Melanie and I came back here and had ice cream together before we crashed, realized how much we ached, and how tired we were! By the time we finally got to bed we were too tired to lay out futons for everybody... We all just took pillows, lined them up off the edge of my twin sized futon, and slept sideways along it! It was so much fun! I certainly slept better than I thought I would have. We woke up late, and just sat around talking and realizing how much we were going to miss me not being here. :( But we ended up having a great day, and I'm looking forward to going to Chiba on Saturday morning for an early lunch at the best ramen place in the country! Then we're coming back here for my surprise going away party. (Don't tell anyone I know about it...)
This post is really long, and I know I'll have more to tell when I get the pictures anyway, so I'll go for now.
Lessons from a future housewife:
#3 - Recipe for deliciously baked eggplant. When cooking eggplant on a baking sheet in the oven, it is always wise to put oil of some kind under it. I like using olive oil, because it gives whatever you're cooking more taste. The easiest way to make sure the vegetables are completely coated, and not going to burn, is to pour oil onto the pan, rub the eggplant in it, and then turn all the eggplant over. This coats both sides, and then you can salt the top. Always cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 until it's soft. Pouring the olive oil onto the pan first, saves extra trouble. Since you want them evenly coated, it's much easier to just rub them in the oil and flip them over, than to try pouring it evenly over them. Pouring oil over them doesn't get the oil underneath the eggplant, so they still stick to the pan... See?
All my love,
Hannah
Anyway, that's not what I wanted to write about... I wanted to write about my trip to Disney Land on Saturday... It turned out that Micah and Seth couldn't come, so it was just Melanie, Jenna, Satoshi, Yukiho, and me. We had a great time! We all met at the station gates at 9:00 in the morning. It ended up that I was the only one without a ticket, but everyone else was kind enough to stand in line with me while I bought mine... Actually Roger and Abi paid for my ticket as a gift! I was really surprised. After we got into the park, we stopped to look at the map. First we rode the Pirates of the Caribbean ride. That was really fun! I think I saw the Captain Jack that I had my picture taken with... :) Then we made our way around the edge of the park until we came to the Western Railway ride. We took a ride along the "Mississipi River Western Railroad". We saw Indians, caribou (which was really funny, because I'm from Mississippi and I know we don't have any caribou down there!), and the Mark Twain ferry boat. Then we stood in line for a record two and a half hours to ride a roller coaster. It was worth it, I believe. That was the longest roller coaster ride I've ever been on, and we got to find out a lot about each other while we were waiting in line... We kept asking questions, and made our own 'get to know your friends' game. :) That was lots of fun! After that we climbed the Swiss Family Robinson's tree house, since that was one of the main things Jenna and I remember from when we went to Disney as small, little, tiny children. :) After that and watching the very end of the Christmas parade where Santa Clause spoke with a funny accent, we walked over to the Queen of Heart's royal banquet hall for lunch. I had a hamburger patty shaped like a heart, a few vegetables, and half a coke. It was so cute! The waiters and waitresses all wore aprons with hearts in the middle. We have some cute pictures from there, but I haven't uploaded them yet. Directly following lunch, we made our way to the teacups! (Don't ask me why that was the one we decided to ride just after eating!) The tree house, the teacups and the Dumbo ride are the only ones Jenna and I remember from our previous Disney trip, so we had to re-do all three of those. All five of us couldn't ride in one teacup, so Jenna and I got dizzy together, and Melanie, Yukiho and Satoshi got dizzy in another cup. To tell the truth, I couldn't tell when the ride actually stopped either time we rode! I say either time, because we did ride it twice! We rode it once after lunch and then, quite by accident, that's the one we decided to re-ride right after dinner! After the first time around, (pardon the un-intended pun) we rode Dumbo!!! I loved it! It brought back so many memories. I think I must've ridden that ride four times when I went to Disneyland when I was three years old. After that I don't remember what we did.... I know we had dinner at some point, so I'll skip ahead to there... We all ordered pizza for supper. It was pretty good pizza, but by the time we had decided where to eat, and gotten our food, there were no empty tables inside... So we tried eating outside at those tables. The wind just happened to be horrible at that time, and it was...7:30....which means it was dark and cold, on top of being windy. As we were leaving the restaurant, I noticed one of those penny mashing machines... The kind where you put in your penny and your quarter, and then press a design onto the penny... As I was trying to find a 100 yen piece to insert, I realized that they don't use pennies here. :) So, instead of a dark penny where you can see Abraham Lincoln's head squished sideways on the back, I got a shiny new piece of copper cut to the right size with Eve from WALL-E on it! I can add it to my squashed penny collection at home! Last time I went to Disney, I believe I had one with... Minnie Mouse on it. After dinner we walked over to the Winnie the Pooh ride. It was a giant book that you walk into and through!!! It was amazing! It had giant 50 foot pages, like from the book. Then when you got to the ride itself, it was a huge honey pot that just happened to sit exactly five people! I loved it!!! Then it took you through the story of Winnie the Pooh's Honey Hunt. We even got to hear the Tigger song sung in Japanese! "The wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things. Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs. They're bouncy, bouncy, trouncy, troucny, fun, fun, fun, fun, fun. The most wonderful thing about Tiggers is I'm the only one! I-I-I-I'm the only one! T. I. double G. ER - TIGGER!" That in itself was funny. Then we went to the Pooh Bear gift shop. I bought the most adorable hooded sweatshirt there. It has Pooh's face on the front, and lots of embroidered flowers and a honey bee on Pooh's nose! It's soooooo cute. I'll have to take a picture of it and post it later..
We finally left the park at 10:00 when they pushed everyone out and said they were closing... :) The trains were absolutely packed!!! The Fukudas had to go home, because it was really late... But Jenna, Melanie and I came back here and had ice cream together before we crashed, realized how much we ached, and how tired we were! By the time we finally got to bed we were too tired to lay out futons for everybody... We all just took pillows, lined them up off the edge of my twin sized futon, and slept sideways along it! It was so much fun! I certainly slept better than I thought I would have. We woke up late, and just sat around talking and realizing how much we were going to miss me not being here. :( But we ended up having a great day, and I'm looking forward to going to Chiba on Saturday morning for an early lunch at the best ramen place in the country! Then we're coming back here for my surprise going away party. (Don't tell anyone I know about it...)
This post is really long, and I know I'll have more to tell when I get the pictures anyway, so I'll go for now.
Lessons from a future housewife:
#3 - Recipe for deliciously baked eggplant. When cooking eggplant on a baking sheet in the oven, it is always wise to put oil of some kind under it. I like using olive oil, because it gives whatever you're cooking more taste. The easiest way to make sure the vegetables are completely coated, and not going to burn, is to pour oil onto the pan, rub the eggplant in it, and then turn all the eggplant over. This coats both sides, and then you can salt the top. Always cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 350 until it's soft. Pouring the olive oil onto the pan first, saves extra trouble. Since you want them evenly coated, it's much easier to just rub them in the oil and flip them over, than to try pouring it evenly over them. Pouring oil over them doesn't get the oil underneath the eggplant, so they still stick to the pan... See?
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 10, 2010
Cold, cold, cold!!!
The rest of yesterday went very well. Last night a family from Karuizawa came to visit us, and stayed for dinner. I really enjoyed it! I say a family, because although not one big immediate family, we had three generations here. Parents, children, and grandchild. The grandchild is in her 30's, but it was amazing to see that much of a family together here so far from home! They are very good friends of the Lowthers. They brought me the best Chinese dumplings I've ever had, and taught me to cook them! They also brought sashimi (raw fish) the majority of it just happened to be my favorite - tuna! I've never in my life eaten so much rice, or so much raw fish at one meal! I thought I was going to be sick! We had those things with rice, green salad, potato salad, and BBQ chicken wings. To top it all off Abi made a simply delicious pumpkin cake/bread thing. Everyone loved it! After they left I made a batch of eggnog, and we had it for breakfast this morning.
This morning I woke bright (I can't say early) at 7:20 and pulled myself out of bed. It was cold! I think I was right about being sick.... This morning I didn't feel great... So I went back to bed at 10:00, cold, tired, and not feeling great. When I woke up, however, I was feeling just fine. I was able to go about the rest of my day... For lunch I cooked the rest of the gyoza (dumplings), and had it with green salad. By the way, have I ever mentioned that I love eating green salad with hashi? It is so much easier than eating it with a fork! I don't know why, but it just is... After lunch I went to the store down two blocks to look for white notecards for writing recipes on - or notecards for any color, for that matter - but couldn't find any! It seems like every store in Tsukishima is out of notecards! Anyway, I enjoyed the exercise and fresh air... Then after Eastin had a short piano lesson I did English reading with him. Around 2:00 I took him and Coen to the park. We played there with Eastin's friends until 3:20. After that I took Eastin to karate, and Baby and I came back here. When we got back Roger and Abi were meeting with a Christian drama group who preforms all over Japan. Actually, they are members of an organization who has groups all over the world! It was really nice to meet them! They gave me all of their information when I simply mentioned that I was interested in drama, etc. :) They are very passionate about their work here.
Pretty much right after they left, I started making dinner. I defrosted some chicken, made a spaghetti sauce, gluten free and regular pasta, and sauted some honey carrots to go along with it. Right after I finished eating, I had to run... I went to Toyosu to meet with Megumi, my newest English...partner... She is the 19 year old from Chiba that I've started helping... We went window shopping together, and tried out the crepe place in the mall. (If you don't know what a crepe is, look it up... It's hard to explain...) So from 7:00 to 9:00 we simply talked together, and walked around the mall pointing out our favorite stores to each other. :) It was fun! I was able to tell her about some of our Christmas traditions, and learn some of hers. It was interesting.
But it's after 10:00 here now, so I should probably close... Before I do, I'll give you lesson number two from "Lessons from a future housewife".
#2 - Never bake things onto your pans that will not easily come off. (Because it's really hard to get them off when you need to use your pan again.) If you do make the mistake of cooking something really sticky in your pan that leaves a disgusting, sticky, residue on the bottom of your pan, always use steel wool to remove it.
This lesson was learned today after mochi and sausages were cooked in one of Abi's frying pans... I don't know what on earth all of that sticky, oily, residue stuck to that pan was, but it was not easy to get it back off!! It took all day of soaking in water, 10 min. of scrubbing it with a soapy sponge, and 20 min. of scrubbing it with steel wool to get all of it off... And it just so happened that I was the first one to need to use the pan (for the carrots), so I got to clean it. :) I did feel very proud of myself afterwards, though!
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 8, 2010
...Lessons from a future housewife:
Good morning everyone - or good night, as your case may be... I am sitting here taking a short break. Today I have taken a shower, eaten breakfast, answered a gazillion emails, washed a few dishes, folded and put away a load of clothes, made coffee, and started to hang out another load of clothes... And it's only 10:00! Think how productive the rest of my day will be! :)
...Anyway. I didn't get on here to tell you minute by minute about my day so far. I wanted to write, because I suddenly had a brilliant idea. I keep telling people that I've learned so much while I've been in Japan. Well, my 'eureka moment' occurred while I was trying to hang out my load of laundry. (Doing laundry provides the second best time to think.) I decided that I should share some of the things I've learned with all of you! So, in each post I remember to do this in, I will impart one fact of housekeeping etc. that I have learned while in Japan. These may be brilliant revelations, common sense helps I've figured out, or life lessons that should be applied to housekeeping that I've learned by word of mouth or learned the hard way...
So since I don't have a lot of time to sit here and write about more, I'll go ahead and close with my new "lessons from a future housewife."
LESSON NO. 1 -
I'm not sure which category this falls under. I think it could be classified as a brilliant
revelation, common sense help, or even a life lesson I learned the hard way...
#1 - Never ever EVER wash a disposable diaper in a load of clothes. (Trust me! The results are disastrous!) This rule should be closely adhered to especially when black articles of clothing are in the load.
This rule was realized when I found lint all over the load of clothes I was hanging out.. I wondered what on earth could have made so much lint, until I found the remains of a pull-up that had been accidentally tossed in with the rest of the clothes. I'm guessing that when Eastin changed out of his pajamas, he forgot to separate the pull-up from the pants... The rest, as they say, is history.
That's all for now...
All my love,
Hannah
...Anyway. I didn't get on here to tell you minute by minute about my day so far. I wanted to write, because I suddenly had a brilliant idea. I keep telling people that I've learned so much while I've been in Japan. Well, my 'eureka moment' occurred while I was trying to hang out my load of laundry. (Doing laundry provides the second best time to think.) I decided that I should share some of the things I've learned with all of you! So, in each post I remember to do this in, I will impart one fact of housekeeping etc. that I have learned while in Japan. These may be brilliant revelations, common sense helps I've figured out, or life lessons that should be applied to housekeeping that I've learned by word of mouth or learned the hard way...
So since I don't have a lot of time to sit here and write about more, I'll go ahead and close with my new "lessons from a future housewife."
LESSON NO. 1 -
I'm not sure which category this falls under. I think it could be classified as a brilliant
revelation, common sense help, or even a life lesson I learned the hard way...
#1 - Never ever EVER wash a disposable diaper in a load of clothes. (Trust me! The results are disastrous!) This rule should be closely adhered to especially when black articles of clothing are in the load.
This rule was realized when I found lint all over the load of clothes I was hanging out.. I wondered what on earth could have made so much lint, until I found the remains of a pull-up that had been accidentally tossed in with the rest of the clothes. I'm guessing that when Eastin changed out of his pajamas, he forgot to separate the pull-up from the pants... The rest, as they say, is history.
That's all for now...
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 7, 2010
13 Days...
Someone recently asked my sister a question similar to the one on your mind if you read the title of this post... "Thirteen days until what?" I won't tell you what she said, but I'll tell you the answer. I have thirteen days left to enjoy Japan! I believe every day is booked, and a couple of them are double booked! I have so much to do, and so little time to do it. I want to fully enjoy these last 13 days. It will be quite different to re-enter my family after 8 months of being treated as an independent adult. I've had to make most decisions by myself, and decide where I want to go and what I want to do... I've had the chance to hop onto a train whenever I want and go wherever I want... I've had a little convenience store right underneath me! I've had my own room, and personal time to do whatever I want... Still, I look forward to going back to my family. Not that I won't to some extent miss all of this, but being with my family will be wonderful! I will miss the trains, and the 7-11, and the river, and my friends, this little apartment, even my futon :). But all of those things together can't match my family! ...Anyway! Enough of my random 'dish-washing thoughts'... Washing dishes is the when I do the most thinking... It's so comforting to stand there with a huge sink, and warm water and soap suds running over you hands. It provides the perfect time to think. And tonight I had plenty of time to think! On top of the 16 forks, 13 spoons, and 8 knives, I washed 4 pots, two large bowls, around 10 plates, and numerous little things... You should see the drain rack! :) It's a beautiful sight!
Anyway, I'm sure that's not what you want to hear about... Everyone has dishes to wash, and can hold competitions with themselves to see how much they could stack, re-stack, and double stack onto the drain rack... Not everyone has the opportunity to eat in a restaurant made for dogs, and all those other things I mentioned in my last post! So, with no further ado than can be managed I shall recount those things to the best of my remembrance.
I'll have to add pictures later, because my internet has decided to be uncooperative and not let me upload pictures at the moment. :( But I can tell you all about the places I've been and things I've done. On Sunday night and Monday afternoon we went to a restaurant made especially for people to come and bring their dogs. In the States this would be considered crazy, and they probably wouldn't be allowed to do that due to health reasons... But Japanese people treat their dogs better than children! This was probably the nicest restaurant I've ever eaten at, and the prices were not that low, either. The entire atmosphere was so quiet, elegant, and overall ...wonderful - for lack of a better word at the moment. On Sunday night I ordered a hot chocolate coffee thing that tasted more like strong black coffee... But the apple pie I ordered was just delicious. To aid the yumminess of the dessert, I had been craving hot apples and spice all day! It really 'hit the spot' as we say in the south. On Monday I ordered a beef curry that was served in a small cast iron skillet. It was VERY good! I also had a delicious soup made from Japanese mushrooms. DELICIOUS! While we were there, I heard Yoshimi (Abi's clarinetist friend with whom we were staying) talking to the chef (the same one that prepares the dog's food and the people's food) about a birthday cake for her dogs. He takes real cake batter, puts it in a small pan, decorates it, and then feeds it to dogs! I couldn't believe it!!! The whole experience was so funny!
So speaking of Yoshimi's dogs... I wanted to tell about Cherry and Shion. Cherry (pronounced by Japanese more like Cheddy) and Shion (pronounced She-own) must be the two most spoiled long haired daschunds the world has ever known. They are adorable...but spoiled.... They went shopping with us when we went shopping. They went out to eat with us when we went out for lunch. They slept only when we slept, and even had an indoor bathroom so that they didn't get cold going out. The only problem I saw with that set up, was that they seemed to think that since they 'went out' in one place in the house, they could 'go out' anywhere in the house... Shion went on my futon. She left me a gift right beside my pillow... :-/ You should have seen her when her 'mother' found out! She ran from her for the rest of the day! When we went shopping, the inu (dogs) had matching outfits, ear ribbons with a Christmas theme, and even a stroller. Abi pushed her baby in the baby stroller, and Yoshimi pushed her babies in the dogie stroller!
Since I'm getting tired and it's getting pretty late, I should probably save the rest for some other night... Before I go I do want to mention the taxis. I have always wanted to ride in a yellow taxi. Something about a yellow taxi has always seemed special to me when you live in a big city. I've ridden in orange taxis, blue taxis, black taxis and even green taxis, but I'd never ridden in a yellow taxi! So on the way home from Tokyo station on Monday night, we actually rode in a yellow taxi!!! We decided to take a taxi since taking the train home from Tokyo eki is hard enough when you don't have three small children, a large suitcase, and a baby stroller. Taking a taxi was the best plan, and it gave me the opportunity to ride in a yellow taxi! Now I can mark that one off my list!
Well, now I'm really getting off. I've had a good day today, but I'll have to write about it later.. I'm too tired tonight!
All my love,
Hannah
Anyway, I'm sure that's not what you want to hear about... Everyone has dishes to wash, and can hold competitions with themselves to see how much they could stack, re-stack, and double stack onto the drain rack... Not everyone has the opportunity to eat in a restaurant made for dogs, and all those other things I mentioned in my last post! So, with no further ado than can be managed I shall recount those things to the best of my remembrance.
I'll have to add pictures later, because my internet has decided to be uncooperative and not let me upload pictures at the moment. :( But I can tell you all about the places I've been and things I've done. On Sunday night and Monday afternoon we went to a restaurant made especially for people to come and bring their dogs. In the States this would be considered crazy, and they probably wouldn't be allowed to do that due to health reasons... But Japanese people treat their dogs better than children! This was probably the nicest restaurant I've ever eaten at, and the prices were not that low, either. The entire atmosphere was so quiet, elegant, and overall ...wonderful - for lack of a better word at the moment. On Sunday night I ordered a hot chocolate coffee thing that tasted more like strong black coffee... But the apple pie I ordered was just delicious. To aid the yumminess of the dessert, I had been craving hot apples and spice all day! It really 'hit the spot' as we say in the south. On Monday I ordered a beef curry that was served in a small cast iron skillet. It was VERY good! I also had a delicious soup made from Japanese mushrooms. DELICIOUS! While we were there, I heard Yoshimi (Abi's clarinetist friend with whom we were staying) talking to the chef (the same one that prepares the dog's food and the people's food) about a birthday cake for her dogs. He takes real cake batter, puts it in a small pan, decorates it, and then feeds it to dogs! I couldn't believe it!!! The whole experience was so funny!
So speaking of Yoshimi's dogs... I wanted to tell about Cherry and Shion. Cherry (pronounced by Japanese more like Cheddy) and Shion (pronounced She-own) must be the two most spoiled long haired daschunds the world has ever known. They are adorable...but spoiled.... They went shopping with us when we went shopping. They went out to eat with us when we went out for lunch. They slept only when we slept, and even had an indoor bathroom so that they didn't get cold going out. The only problem I saw with that set up, was that they seemed to think that since they 'went out' in one place in the house, they could 'go out' anywhere in the house... Shion went on my futon. She left me a gift right beside my pillow... :-/ You should have seen her when her 'mother' found out! She ran from her for the rest of the day! When we went shopping, the inu (dogs) had matching outfits, ear ribbons with a Christmas theme, and even a stroller. Abi pushed her baby in the baby stroller, and Yoshimi pushed her babies in the dogie stroller!
Since I'm getting tired and it's getting pretty late, I should probably save the rest for some other night... Before I go I do want to mention the taxis. I have always wanted to ride in a yellow taxi. Something about a yellow taxi has always seemed special to me when you live in a big city. I've ridden in orange taxis, blue taxis, black taxis and even green taxis, but I'd never ridden in a yellow taxi! So on the way home from Tokyo station on Monday night, we actually rode in a yellow taxi!!! We decided to take a taxi since taking the train home from Tokyo eki is hard enough when you don't have three small children, a large suitcase, and a baby stroller. Taking a taxi was the best plan, and it gave me the opportunity to ride in a yellow taxi! Now I can mark that one off my list!
Well, now I'm really getting off. I've had a good day today, but I'll have to write about it later.. I'm too tired tonight!
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 6, 2010
Back from Karuizawa
Hi all, I just wanted to say that we arrived safely from Karuizawa this afternoon. Most of us are pretty tired, but glad to be back in relatively warm weather... The temperature where we were over the weekend is typically about 30 degrees colder than in Tokyo... For instance, on Sunday night as we were returning to our host home, we passed a temperature sign that said 1 degree Celsius. That's only 33 degrees F., but I've never gotten used to the Celsius system, and 1 degree looked so funny to me...
Sadly it didn't snow once the entire weekend. No Yeti, either... We only had hard freezes and frosts every night. :( But it was still beautiful. I actually took some really pretty pictures out the upstairs bathroom window, since that was the only window you could see the huge mountain from. :) I took some of the boys too!
Some of the things I hope to write about later, are:
Sadly it didn't snow once the entire weekend. No Yeti, either... We only had hard freezes and frosts every night. :( But it was still beautiful. I actually took some really pretty pictures out the upstairs bathroom window, since that was the only window you could see the huge mountain from. :) I took some of the boys too!
Some of the things I hope to write about later, are:
- Eat at a restaurant for doggies - twice!
- Play baseball in a tennis court
- Comment on the shinkansen ride
- Taxi rides
- Two adorable daschunds
- Shopping experiences
Well, I'll go for now, and leave you dangling wondering what I'm going to say about each of those things... :)
Like I said (or did I?) I'm pretty tired, and my shoulders are worn out from carrying my 20 lb back-pack! I still amaze myself when I can pack that much weight into such a small little space! C'est la vie!
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 3, 2010
Off to the Mountains...
Days until Christmas: 22
Well everyone, we're off to the mountains... We're leaving for the mountains this afternoon... It looks like my countdown will have to be interrupted for a few days... :( But I'll be back at it on Monday! We're taking a shinkansen (or bullet train) to the mountains for a few Christmas concerts. I'm all packed, and everything is ready...I think... :) I've been asked to say hello to a yeti while I'm up there... If it snows I'll definitely take pictures, ...any more requests?
Well, I've got to go eat breakfast now... If there's anything else, you have just a few hours to let me know! :)
All my love,
Hannah
Well everyone, we're off to the mountains... We're leaving for the mountains this afternoon... It looks like my countdown will have to be interrupted for a few days... :( But I'll be back at it on Monday! We're taking a shinkansen (or bullet train) to the mountains for a few Christmas concerts. I'm all packed, and everything is ready...I think... :) I've been asked to say hello to a yeti while I'm up there... If it snows I'll definitely take pictures, ...any more requests?
Well, I've got to go eat breakfast now... If there's anything else, you have just a few hours to let me know! :)
All my love,
Hannah
Dec 2, 2010
Count down day 3
Days until Christmas: 23!
Today we have smoggy skies with the sun peaking through in the West. Not much is visible, and the entire sky looks grey from where I'm sitting. (And yes, it is the sky not the ceiling.) The temperature is nice today - a high of 64 degrees Fahrenheit.
Not much has happened so far today... After taking Eastin to school this morning I had a few minutes to chat with my family and grandparents. Then Coen and I made a batch of gluten free chocolate chip cookies! They were soooooooo good! The recipe made 32 cookies, but there are only 30 on the cooling rack now. Two of them donated themselves to scientific research. ;) I was testing cookies to see whether or not the ones that were broken when they were taken off the pan tasted any better than the others... My conclusion was that they did taste better! :) However, I believe that more research may be necessary. ;)
Anyway, after I made the cookies, I washed the breakfast dishes. Other than those two rather insignificant tasks, I have done very little today that is profitable. (I have done some things, but they didn't take much time or energy.)
Perhaps I can write more later, but after reading that very short summery of my day, I feel rather ashamed of myself... I think I'll go find some laundry to fold or something.... Before I go, I'll also post a very funny picture of Coen... The other day after realizing it was unusually quiet in the living room, I found Coen with both hands in the sugar container, and couldn't resist the 'Kodak moment'. :)
All my love,
Hannah
Hannah
Dec 1, 2010
Count down day 2
Days until Christmas: 24!!!
As this day, December 1st, 2010, begins, my mind is crowded with thoughts... Thoughts too numerous even to sort. Among those random thoughts float dates, expectations, wishes, and duties...
My
Random Thoughts:
The laundry must be processed...
...Leaving for Karuizawa in two days, I
must pack......Coen goes to nap in 20 minutes...
Christmas is just around the corner - Do I have something
for everyone?... What souvenirs do I still want? I wonder what's
for lunch... Have the dishes been washed? ...I really want to see my
animals...Seeing family and friends would definitely come before that.
I wonder if it will snow while we're in the mountains this weekend...
I really
LOVE
this time
of year!
Merry 24 days before Christmas everybody!!!
All my love,
Hannah
As this day, December 1st, 2010, begins, my mind is crowded with thoughts... Thoughts too numerous even to sort. Among those random thoughts float dates, expectations, wishes, and duties...
My
Random Thoughts:
The laundry must be processed...
...Leaving for Karuizawa in two days, I
must pack......Coen goes to nap in 20 minutes...
Christmas is just around the corner - Do I have something
for everyone?... What souvenirs do I still want? I wonder what's
for lunch... Have the dishes been washed? ...I really want to see my
animals...Seeing family and friends would definitely come before that.
I wonder if it will snow while we're in the mountains this weekend...
I really
LOVE
this time
of year!
Merry 24 days before Christmas everybody!!!
All my love,
Hannah
SMILE
HAPPY FIRST DAY OF DECEMBER EVERYBODY!!!!
Count down has officially started for me!
25 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!
All my love,
Hannah
Count down has officially started for me!
25 DAYS UNTIL CHRISTMAS!!!!!
All my love,
Hannah
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